Saturday, July 7, 2012

That's Right, Walt Disney's "Fantasia" is Demonic!


Image from http://www.disneydreaming.com/2010/09/02/fantasia-and-fantasia-2000-special-edition-blu-ray-and-dvd/

Last week, I posted how Walt Disney's Pinocchio had very strong Christian connotations.  This week, I'll examine Walt Disney's Fantasia, which was released during the same year (1940).  Unlike Pinocchio, it is NOT Christian... not in the least!
     Before reviewing Fantasia, however, here's a brief note on the follow up, Fantasia 2000, which wasn’t much of a movie:  It clocks in at a mere 75 minutes, and that’s even with a replay of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from the original film (poorly introduced by Penn and Teller, I might add).  Despite some stunning animation at times, such as the sequence with the humpback whales flying through the Aurora Borealis, not even the animators seemed to be making such a big deal about it all.  After all, you can find stunning animation all over the place these days.  It is no longer such a great thing.  The first Fantasia was full of a bunch of pomp and circumstance, but Fantasia 2000 manages to introduce the animated pieces like some retrospective you might find on some awards show or one of those TV specials where they count down the best commercials or best big screen kisses.  Steve Martin jokes all the way through his presentation.
    And in retrospect, it makes the original Fantasia seem not all that great either.  The one thing I kept thinking about the original Fantasia while watching it was how undoubtedly brilliant this early animation was, light years ahead of the “Silly Symphonies” Disney had already done or the “Merrie Melodies” over at Warner Brothers, and with just Snow White and Pinocchio having been released as animated features at the time Fantasia was released.  At the same time, I was thinking how much of a polar opposite it was to Pinocchio on a purely spiritual level.  While I easily gave a Christian reading of Pinocchio (last week, linked here) I’m afraid Fantasia would come off looking very poor by comparison. 
Some of Fantasia's more Demonic, Pagan, Racist, and Evolutionary Darwinist Elements
      The main sequence, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” shows Mickey Mouse performing what looks to be questionable black magic in a sorcerer’s dungeon, and those multiplying brooms with arms are actually quite creepy if you think about it.  In fact, almost every sequence could be considered questionable from a Christian perspective:  The Faeries in the Tchaikovsky piece, or the heavy emphasis on the gods and creatures of Roman myth, with Zeus throwing lightning bolts at defenseless creatures on the ground (aside from the horrid black stereotypes they had to edit out for the DVD release), or the “Rite of Spring” sequence that implies, the same as Darwinists, how life evolved from nothing by chance.  Even back then, there was no way for them to explain how these era’s came about, and were reduced to creating a “mud screen” in the water which would clear and show the next explosion of life.  Evolutionary science has followed this same path all these years.  There are an unbelievable number of “mud screens” in which nothing has ever been explained.  The only large sequence to escape this, by the way, is the humorous “Dance of the Hours”, with dancing ostriches, hippos, elephants, and crocodiles.  
Scenes from the well animated but ultimately demonic "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence
     The worst offense, of course, is what is generally considered the film’s high point:  “Night on Bald Mountain” with the skeletons, ghosts, hellish demons, and the dark figure who looks surprisingly like an interpretation of the devil in all his evil.  
     He is vanquished in this film by church bells, which give way to “Ave Maria” which ends the movie, with figures moving quietly through a picturesque countryside with glowing lanterns, but this sequence is so slow and languid, it comes off as very inferior to the dancing demons and scary skeletons of the previous sequence.  That’s not the best compliment you can give to an old animated movie, and probably one reason Fantasia isn’t quite as adored by generations of children as Disney’s other films have been.  I think you’d find that Fantasia is probably mostly appreciated by adult animation aficionados only, and they probably aren’t Christian.  I am, and although I bought it, merely because I am also a bit of an adult animation freak, I am having reservations about doing so after having watched it again.  Despite the early achievements in animation blended with classical music, there is no continued narrative to hold the whole thing together, and it is about as interesting today as watching an old block of pretty good music videos.  It’s just not the same as a good narrative movie, especially with all these spiritually questionable elements!   

21 comments:

  1. I just purchased fantasia for my daughter and ended up throwing it away because something didnt sit right with me about it. If what your saying is true, MAKES SENSE. She was very upset I threw it away (shes 3) but I believe maybe God' spirit which lives in me was warning me about the images/dangers of what seems like such a awesome, innocent animated Disney classic!! God bless!! Tasha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tasha, I'm glad my review was able to help you. I'm sorry your daughter was upset that you threw it away, but there are many other entertainments that would be better for her, starting with Veggietales!

      Delete
  2. And god sayeth, if thou is ridiculed by 42 children prayeth to me and I shall send a she bear to devour them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This review is horrible. I absolutely hate how one can take appart such a classic and say it's demonic. I'm going to this film to my children and their children, and all that is to become of my heritage because this film is a masterpiece that deserves to be appreciated. This isn't just a film, it is a work of God!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ever since I was a kid.... When I watched that movie it made me feel very disturbed. II had this unexplainable sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and I honestly feel likke they cursed that movie and put witchcraft in it. It was that deep. I hated that movie because it gave me that feeling every time I watched if! Classic or not, demons have been around for a very long time and you have to realize they're not hiding until "our generation" they were always at work for many centuries on centuries. The older the movie the more secretive the subliminal message is. Besides Micky is a wizard. A witch practicing magic. Now the Bible speaks against that. So why is it OK to let your children watch something that shows what they are not supposed to do according to the Bible? Satan wants to get em while they're going because when they grow up with it it will be harder to get out of it. That's how sick and cruel he is. And "cute animation" is all the bait he needs to get them. My older brother used to watch all the Harry Potter series even tho my dad forbid it. You know what ended up happening? He ended up having a book of real witchcraft and casted real satanic spells that resulted in many attacks in my old home. So you see. What seems subtle and innocent can turn out to backfire in a huge way you gave credit for. Trust me...it's not worst the risk

      Delete
    2. Ever since I was a kid.... When I watched that movie it made me feel very disturbed. II had this unexplainable sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and I honestly feel likke they cursed that movie and put witchcraft in it. It was that deep. I hated that movie because it gave me that feeling every time I watched if! Classic or not, demons have been around for a very long time and you have to realize they're not hiding until "our generation" they were always at work for many centuries on centuries. The older the movie the more secretive the subliminal message is. Besides Micky is a wizard. A witch practicing magic. Now the Bible speaks against that. So why is it OK to let your children watch something that shows what they are not supposed to do according to the Bible? Satan wants to get em while they're going because when they grow up with it it will be harder to get out of it. That's how sick and cruel he is. And "cute animation" is all the bait he needs to get them. My older brother used to watch all the Harry Potter series even tho my dad forbid it. You know what ended up happening? He ended up having a book of real witchcraft and casted real satanic spells that resulted in many attacks in my old home. So you see. What seems subtle and innocent can turn out to backfire in a huge way you gave credit for. Trust me...it's not worst the risk

      Delete
  4. This movie is definitely garbage. Lots of demonic influence, new world thinking and negative programming. It's not a part of anybody's "heritage" because it wasn't created by your ancestors. And it definitely doesn't represent your people no matter what race or origin you come from. This film is the work of the devil, and if you place God and Christ the you will rebuke this film and all other evil influence from your life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *god and Christ 1st in your life, then you will rebuke

      Delete
  5. Nonsense. You can just as easily interpret the story of the sorcerers apprentice as someones out of control life being saved by God's love. If you think there is some sort of appeal in to cavorting demons being destroyed like insects by their master you need professional help. I think everyone understands they don't get to be the devil. You get to dance for his amusement while he transforms your body at will or casually tosses you into a firey pit.

    There is a long history of depictions of Satan and demons in art not to glorify them but to vividly instruct people who were often illiterate. This master work of animation is closer in time to that pre industrial revolution time in history than it is to us. You are finding intent in the work that just was not there at the time it was created.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spoken like a true intellectual. Yes, you could interpret the sorcerer's apprentice that way, and yes, one could argue that this is just a harmless depiction of Satan or demons amid all the other artful depictions in the entire history of art, and it has more to do with the time it was created, in the pre-industrial revolution, than it does to us and our modern sensibilities. But doesn't that prove the point? It's all excuses, tiny little ways for the devil to get in and spread his influence, and the world gets just a little bit worse.
      Or let me put it another way: In the entire pantheon of Disney's animated movies - amid the Evil Queen and Maleficient and Cruella DeVil, Hunchback's Frolo, the racist crows of Dumbo, the adult themes of The Lion King, the death of the villain in Tarzan, and the Voodoo of The Princess and the Frog, what among them all is the movie that's too scary for children? Better yet, which of them is the film most children would want to see the least? It's the one that is cherished mostly by primarily adult animation aficionados: Fantasia. Am I wrong?

      Delete
  6. I'm now 24 and I used to watch this as a kid. I always felt like something was 'off' with this movie. Just 5 minutes ago, I typed in "Walt Disney Fantasia Demonic' into Google and came across your post. Yeah, I would not show this to my (future) children. I always felt like there was an underlying SOMETHING, although I never really knew what.

    Thanks for your post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lyrics of the Ave Maria in the "demonic" Fantasia:

    Ave Maria! Heaven’s bride
    The bells ring out in solemn praise
    For you the anguish and the pride,
    The living glory of our nights and days.
    The Prince of Peace your arms embrace
    While hosts of darkness fade and cower”
    Oh, save us, Mother full of Grace,
    In life, and in our dying hour.

    Well, some people only see what they want to see.

    The scene with Mickey as a wizard is based on the 17th century play Faustus, which was Christian in nature, and warned against pride and witchcraft. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/themes/

    ReplyDelete
  8. I never saw "Fantasia" as a kid, and I was a very unusual kid in that I never liked Mickey Mouse. I saw "Fantasia" in an art cinema when I was in my early 30s, because my curiosity was piqued after so many years of friends who were film buffs raving about how wonderful it was.

    My reaction was like that of the person above who got a sick feeling from it. The "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequences are obviously occult/demonic, but there were other parts that bothered me just as much. For example, the talking, dancing creatures that were part one species and part another seemed to prefigure the trans-species chimeras that genetic engineers are making today. In the Bible, the book of Genesis emphasizes that God made distinct species -- "each according to its kind" -- and it is diabolical to be making "humanized" mice and pigs, as is being done in research labs today. Some even want to make ape-human creatures to serve as slaves in dangerous military tasks.

    The "Ave Maria" ending sequence gave me no comfort at all since there seemed to me to be something Luciferian about it. They even changed the words of the hymn into something that sounded to me like some globalist New World Order thing.

    It's been 25 years since I saw it, so I can't remember all the details, I just remember the TASTE it left in my mouth, and that was rotten indeed. The film had the feel of an orgy, of gleeful transgression of the natural limits of creation as God designed it.

    I also could not ignore WHEN it was made; it was released in 1940, when the Nazis were on the march across Europe, rolling over one country after another. We all know how involved the Nazi leaders were with the occult, Darwinism, and blood-and-soil paganism, but people forget that the eugenics movement actually started in England, spread to the United States, and became HUGE over here before Hitler got on board and took it to such extremes.

    I saw "Fantasia" before I knew what I know now about the New World Order. I was not even a Christian back then, either. And yet, even then, without the benefit of faith in the Bible, without the benefit of everything I've since learned about "the Prince of this world" whom Jesus warned us about, I was creeped out by that movie. I sensed a dangerous presence/spirit in it. It was hard to put my finger on in any articulate way at the time, but it just struck me as evil.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I could not have said it better myself.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My Christian parents have warned me about the satanic influences of Fantasia (and Disney in general) and have always encouraged me to research and learn more on my own.
    I tried searching "Disney Fantasia evil" on Google but had to search it on Duck Duck Go to find your article.
    Thank you for your advice and insight! It has been extremely helpful in helping me find the wisdom in not watching this movie.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have been saying this for YEARS. I ONLY get an erection if there is evil in the room, and I ALWAYS get aroused watching Mickey in that "robe."

    ReplyDelete